As one who has coached at all three levels (DIII, DII, and DI), I will tell you that the hours worked grew exponentially...as did the salary (part-time to full-time)...however...
I left the DI position, b/c 80 hr weeks and all of the traveling/recruiting/meets, as well as being the strength coach, nutritionist, accountant, travel agent, etc. took a toll on my relationship. I had to make a career/life decision. I chose to walk away on top and be a dad to my own kids while they were young, as opposed to being gone constantly and missing them grow up. Not to mention, I couldn't afford to buy a house in the area I grew up in because my salary was "capped" at the tier III level (along with swimming and tennis coaches - the explanation is we only "spend" the dept. money).
Now, I make decent money working 45hrs, have two homes and the kids have grown older. I have recently gotten calls to possibly go back to being a college coach at both DII and DI (never burn a bridge). The only issue now is that the salary I would need to support my family is nowhere in line with the college offers of $50-70K. This may seem like decent money to many, but for going back to the 60+ hours weeks (I would have a staff this time) plus travel, I truly think that it is not the best decision for my family. And I dream of coaching again at that level every day since leaving...I haven't missed a beat with what's going on.
The college AD's will have a plethora of "willing" younger coaches who will "settle" for a head job for $35-50K...plus the perk of the company car/insurance, camps potential, discounted swag, etc.
Heck, when I left the DI school I was making $50K 14 yrs ago...the coach who took over is now making $90K (however, the avg. 1800 sq. ft. home costs $500K and property taxes avg. $15K).
I don't know...to each his own...but who knows what the next offer will bring...for now I will stick with coaching HS and local runners, as well as my own kids sports teams...all for much more money and time off.
Face it..all of us reading and hoping for the dream college XC/track job are involved in the WRONG sport to get properly compensated...I watched an asst. Lacrosse coach get the car, camp $$, NIKE contract ($7500), and $25K more than me in salary ($75K/yr) and they hadn't had a winning season in 6 years and only played during the spring!!!!
Go figure...